The Dragon-Flower 龍華
by Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena
Summary: During the first months of the Imperial Restoration, Katsumoto decides to bring up the daughter of a fallen comrade as his own. She is turned into a symbol, an icon for the women of Japan, empowering them to fight for their own rights and survival. What will happen when her path is crossed with that of a broken soldier's? Nathan X OC, possible AU. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

It was the sight of her eyes that drawn her to him and his son, eyes reminiscent of the largest sapphire that graced the hair ornaments of the most beautiful geisha in Shimabara. The girl was no older than fifteen, but she was holding a katana and a matching wakizashi, the two weapons tucked into her obi as if she had been a man… She was hiding under the eaves of the small roof over the gate to the inn he was heading to, seeking the smallest form of refuge from the merciless summer rain. There was no doubt that she was soaked to the core.

"Who are you, girl?" he asked her gently, bending down slightly so that he could see her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

The girl looked at him and bowed. "My name is Tsubasa Ryuka," she answered, noting the change of expression upon his face. The name Tsubasa was one that was familiar to him. It was the name of a comrade of his that had fallen to the agents of the Shogunate just recently. Tsubasa had been as eccentric as Sakamoto Ryouma from Tosa had been, and had boasted on many occasions that he had trained his only daughter as a warrior just as he had been by his own father. There were even mentions that he left his title as a samurai to her, as his only child. Even stranger was that she was real and not some boast that they thought he had conjured when he was drunk.

"Chichiue," his son called to him. "We should get her inside. She looks as if she'd freeze to death."

Naturally, he agreed to his son, and told the girl to follow them in. "Do you know where you are?" he asked her further, and heaved a sigh of relief when she shook her head. The inn that they were heading into was not a common inn at all. It was the headquarters of the Choushu-han, one of the main domains that were fighting against the Shogunate to restore the Emperor to power, the other more powerful players being the Tosa-han and the Satsuma-han, Choushu's strongest allies. They were quickly ushered in by the mistress of the inn, who raised an eyebrow at her presence. "Okami-san, please make sure that the girl is changed into dry clothes and is fed. A trick of fate has brought her here to us, and her life is about to change."

The girl undoubtedly knew that he was directly addressing her, and bowed her head low. She was quickly given a bath and clean clothes by the landlady and one of her maids, and the man's son was sent to accompany her for the time being where the landlady could see them both. "I'm Nobutada," the man's son introduced himself. "My father is Katsumoto Moritsugu; we're here on the affairs of the Emperor."

Her eyes widened at the mention of the name of Nobutada's father. "My father said that your father is a great man," she replied, looking up towards the staircase where Nobutada's father had ascended. "But… he speaks little about his work beyond that…" She knew that he was fighting against the Shogunate, which was why he had joined the Choushu-han in their cause, but because of the threat of prosecution, he spoke little about the politics involved. It was done to protect her, his only remaining family. Her mother had died of illness when she was very, very young.

Nobutada thanked her for the praise of his father. "Well, actually, that's not saying a lot," he told her. "Chichiue is a daimyo, but our lands are so small that we only have a village in our name. However, his position as the Crown Prince's teacher grants him the power to fight in this… conflict. That's all I know too."

They spent the whole afternoon talking about themselves, where they came from, what they have seen, while Nobutada's esteemed father, Katsumoto convened with his old friends and comrades of what they were supposed to do with the young girl that he had found.

"Tsubasa was not lying at all when he said that he raised his daughter as an onna bugeisha," Katsumoto said to the men around him. "The girl holds herself exactly like a warrior; she would be an important asset if we can find a part for her to play."

One of them, Yamagata Kyousuke, did not agree with him. "She is still a girl after all, what can she do?" he asked Katsumoto, crossing his arms. "Although it was undoubted that Tsubasa had been a highly talented swordsman, the same cannot be said of his daughter."

Katsura Kogoro, the head of the Choushu-han, on the other hand, begged to differ. "We need all the talent that we can get in these troubling times," he reasoned. "If she is indeed an onna bugeisha, seeing her in action would even inspire more women to support our sentiments. We are, after all, fighting for the equality of all citizens of our country." That was the diplomatic way of saying that he would pit the best and most experienced fighter they had against the girl. If she won, she would be recruited into the Choushu-han's list of combatants, if she did not…

"Wait a minute," said yet another man. He was young like Katsura Kogoro was, the head of the Kiheitai, the militia arm of the Choushu-han. "Even if the girl fails to prove herself, we still need to take care of her. She is Tsubasa's only daughter, and we owe a lot to him. It is not up to us to make it up to her?"

"We are not a charity!" someone argued, but Katsumoto knew better. Tsubasa's daughter was only but a child, but he knew that even she, had boundless potential. With the loss of her father, her training had stopped, but he knew that there was no reason for such a situation to continue.

"I will oversee her well-being and training personally," Katsumoto offered. "She is more or less the same age as my son, and it would be healthier for him to be around children his age in these dark times."

Thankfully, Katsura agreed with Katsumoto whole-heartedly. "Perhaps, my friend, you would have even gained a new daughter."

Katsumoto looked at the girl and his son, now talking animatedly to one another. "We shall see, Katsura-san, we shall see."

* * *

HAN: Hello there, people! It's Hanny here, and I would like to present my first legitimate Last Samurai fanfic! I have decided to return to my roots of writing fanfics of the Bakumatsu era, having written fanfics for Hakuouki and Rurouni Kenshin before. Please bear with the backstory for a few chapters, and I shall be presenting Nathan Algren to you soon! ^.^ See ya!


	2. Onna Bugeisha

Simon Graham could have sworn that he had seen a red moon that night. His colleagues told him that he was seeing things, but he could not mistake that eerie glow that radiated high above the mountains… just looking at it when his gaze went out the window sent chills up his spine, telling him that evil was lurking around in the night. But then again, being someone who had travelled through most of East Asia, Graham had already learned that one's direct instincts were the most accurate, and the feeling of dread, was the chief amongst them all.

Sipping his rice-wine from the plate-like vessel, Graham instantly felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise when he realized that someone or something was approaching him. Looking towards the area of the corridor, he was relieved to see the silhouette of a person of medium height and build, well, medium for the Japanese anyways, walking towards the courtyard.

Ah, that would be young Ryuka, one of the rare few female warriors fighting with the Imperialist forces. She was a rarity, of course, an onna bugeisha, trained by Katsumoto Moritsugu, the Crown Prince's esteemed and influential teacher high in the mountains of Japan. Rumor has it that Katsumoto had received some form of Western education, and his son and Ryuka were able to speak English to some extent.

"Hello there, Mr. Graham," she greeted him when a polite bow, as was customary. Graham hastily returned the greeting, and returned to eyeing the red moon. In an instant, she sensed his sense of foreboding and stood beside him, her gaze cast upwards as well. "There is a saying amongst my people, Mr. Graham, that whenever a red moon rises into the sky, a killer with the greatest hunger for blood is on the loose. The city of Kyoto will rain blood tonight."

"Well, I beg your pardon, young lady," Graham stuttered in reply. "Where have you heard those stories from?" Whatever Ryuka had said was not funny at all to him at all, but she was unable to keep a straight face. "You do know that your tall-tale almost gave me a heart attack? I shall report this to your master…"

Ryuka chuckled, clearly giving in to his threat, no matter how empty it was. "Those were tales that Shishou's men used to tell me when I was younger. But think about it, for a thousand years now, Kyoto has never seen a day or a night without bloodshed, what more in these troubled times?" Once again, whatever she had said brought Graham the willies, because he knew that what she had said was right. The British trade mission could have picked a better time to sell weapons to the Japanese, but as destiny willed it, they arrived during a time when the country was deeply embroiled in civil war. In fact, the French and the Dutch have come into the picture as well, selling whatever they could to the Japanese, naïve in the ways of modern warfare, but it so happened that British had better weapons, and made faster, shorter work of the Shogunate forces who relied on weapons supplied by the rivals of Britain.

From those words, Graham was left to wonder about the girl's upbringing. A Western child would have most likely been regarded as an insane, morbid one if they had been heard saying the things that she did, but there, in Japan, she was being made as an icon, if rumors were to be true, a sign that even the women of Japan are willing to fight, to be the masters of their own fate, to seek their own freedom. "I thank you for informing me, child… Ryuka… was it?" he replied, receiving a quiet smile and a nod in return. There was no doubt this girl had a mischievous streak, injecting the fact that she had not lost her personality in that terrible, terrible civil war.

"Ryuka!" yet another voice called for the girl. It was a boy, more or less her age. Ah, Nobutada, Katsumoto's son and heir. "Ryuka, Chichiue and Katsura-san wish to see you."

Ryuka's face paled immediately. "_Both _of them?" she asked Nobutada, as if she was convinced that she was to be convicted of some crime already.

Nobutada wasted no time. "Yes, Ryuka, _both_ of them," he answered curtly, not one to waste words, just like his father. Also, none of them mentioned why they had wanted to talk to Ryuka together, but he knew that there was nothing to fear on her part. She had not caused any mischief intentionally for a long, long while.

Giving Graham a quick bow, Ryuka retreated into the inn with Nobutada. Passing the corridors one by one until they reached the right one, both knelt and called at the door before entering. "Katsura-san, Chichiue, I have brought Ryuka here," Nobutada said, opening the shoji doors and then closing them after they were allowed in.

There they were, Katsura, the leader of the Chōshū forces, and Katsumoto, the daimyo and Imperial Teacher, one of his staunchest advisors and allies. The two of them formed a part of the top command chain of the Chōshū faction, and were respected in the Satchō Alliance's entirety. Who wouldn't, when Katsura Kogoro was at the prime of his life, shrewd and incredibly agile in the intrigues of those dark days, and Katsumoto was already a well-loved patron and master of his people?

"Katsura-san, Shishou," Ryuka greeted, and they regarded her somberly.

"Do you know why you have been summoned here, child?" Katsumoto asked her. Ryuka shook her head, and with a deep breath, he continued to speak. "Katsura and I have decided that you are to take an active role in our endeavors henceforth, having completed your studies and martial training. From now on, you shall accompany our men during their missions, and ensure their safety from the Wolves that hound our brothers day and night."

The Wolves, Katsumoto said. There was no doubt that he was referring to the Wolves of Mibu – the Shinsen-Gumi, lapdogs of the Lord of the Aizu domain. Tasked to protect the peace of Kyoto city, these men were actually ordered to kill anyone who was even suspected of acting against the Shogun. Altogether, the ten groups of men commanded by their commander Kondō Isami, have killed more Satchō brothers than they had the heart to count.

"I will gladly accept this task," Ryuka replied with a bow. She knew that as a young woman, she would not receive a big post or any mission of great importance, particularly when her Shishou was Katsumoto Moritsugu, who would most likely double her punishment should she fail, just because she was his apprentice, but she also knew that her allotted mission was one that was crucial to the survival of their men. She would accept it just the same, until the ends that they were fighting for had been achieved.

"What you are doing will also mean that you are highly visible," Katsura continued. "You will serve as an inspirational figure to all the women in Japan. Show them what it means to fight for your own rights and your freedom."

In all truth, Ryuka had never, ever thought about those things when she chose to follow Katsumoto into Kyoto city, which took the brunt of the civil war they were in. All she wanted to do was to make sure that her Shishou and Nobutada did not get themselves killed. She was not in for the glory, for the chance of being involved politically, or even to seek an able husband, but only to be with the men that gave her a new life once her father had died, to repay their kindness for taking her in, teaching her, guiding her as though she had been one of their own.

"Your father would have wanted this for you, Ryuka," Katsumoto added further. Tsubasa was once a Rangaku student, sent to study with the Dutch at Nagasaki from Chōshū, and from the Dutch he learned that in the Western world, all men were born the same and should be respected equally. By extension, he used that principle on his daughter as well. Ryuka had been diligent and obedient, but most of all, she carried herself with honor, which was more than he could say about his own men.

Ryuka knew that there was no way that she could back down now. "I hope that I will not let you both down," she said. As of yet, she was rather thankful that she was even given a sword. She would do whatever she could to aid the Imperialist cause, because by doing so, she would be aiding Katsumoto with his work. Now that she would be in active duty, it meant that she would have the chance to keep an eye on Nobutada when they were in the field as well.

"Of course you won't," Katsumoto replied with a flourish. "You are your father's daughter, and _my_ apprentice, are you not? I am sure that soon enough, you will be the pride of the Chōshū-han, child."

"You and Nobutada may leave now," Katsura said with a smile. Once again, the two younger ones bowed and left the room in utter silence, leaving Katsura and Katsumoto to continue their earlier conversation.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Graham asked Ryuka when she returned to the courtyard without Nobutada. The slight expression of fear was gone from her face, but instead, there was the face of determination, and also resolve, a dramatic change from the playful girl that was sent to meet her teacher. "Did you get a lecture?"

Ryuka sighed. "I am to accompany the men on their missions, to act as a bodyguard of sorts," she answered. "It is an honorable charge."

However, there was some form of shock on Graham's face. "They're sending you to active duty?" he asked her rather incredulously. Ryuka's eyes widened at his words, not understanding what he had meant at all. "But… you're still a child, aren't you?"

"I am sixteen this year," Ryuka answered, rather curious of Graham's sudden outburst. "I could be married off if Shishou sees it fit at any moment… But I'm glad that he hasn't found me a husband yet."

Graham, however, seemed like he was going to faint. But then again, the culture and traditions of the Japanese were vastly different from his own. It was only then at that moment when he realized that maybe the Japanese age of majority was a little younger than what he was used to in his culture. "Well, you'll have to be careful out there, then. I still don't see the point of you being embroiled in all this violence, though."

Ryuka sighed. "All I want to do is to help Shishou out," she answered. It was the truth, clean and simple. She was not a person of lofty ideals or one who held illusions of grandeur that a new world could be cleft from the old with just a few strokes of a sword. Those hopes and dreams were for men like her father, or even Katsura, but not her. "Don't worry about me, Mr. Graham. I'd seen my fair share of blood ever since my father passed on. I can handle myself well enough."

"I'm sure you do, child," Graham replied with a heavy sigh. Japan as a country was not well indeed, when teenagers like Ryuka had to fight, in the front lines no less, to defend those that they loved. He knew that there would be no shortage of lives lost on either side, what with other European countries fighting to sell their weapons to either side of the civil war, wanting to extend their trading with the winning side. At that point, everything was at a standstill, but within a few days, a great change was about to come.

He could feel it in his bones.


	3. Trade

Dawn. The start of a new day, and as Ryuka opened the doors of her room, she looked towards the eastern part of the sky. The sun was red, just as she had predicted. There must have been another brutal murder last night.

Reports came the moment breakfast was served. Three men had been claimed last night by the Wolves of Mibu. Two Japanese – their brothers from the Tosa-han, and one Westerner. Apparently, the Japanese were insulted in some way by the Westerner, who knew not Japanese culture, and a fight ensured, which ended up in all three men being dead, as was stated to the public by the members of the Shinsen-Gumi, but those of the Ishin-Shishi, they knew that things were far different from the truth.

Those men were seeking to eavesdrop on an important conversation between Hijikata Toshizōand Kondo Isami at a local teashop with a few key Bakufu agents. Clearly, they had failed, and were discovered. It was as simple as that. But what puzzled everyone was the presence of the Westerner. What was his motive, and why was he there in the first place?

"He may be at a wrong place at a wrong time," one of the tallest men amongst them said. He was called Nakao – a samurai of the mountains loyal to Katsumoto. Proficient in ju-jitsu and the naginata he was quite the gambler, but had a large heart, a heart that had been buried to facilitate the actions that he would need to take in those dark and evil times.

Katsumoto furrowed his brow while Katsura closed his eyes and sighed. It could be a possibility, but there was something more… sinister than just killing a random Westerner.

"It could be a plot…" Nobutada blurted out, and immediately everyone's eyes were fixed upon him, waiting for him to continue his sentence. "If the Bakufu knows that we are meeting with the British today, would they not try to paint us in a bad light? If our countrymen kill a Westerner, wouldn't they be afraid to continue their trade with us now? "

"But that would mean that we have a spy in our midst," Katsura concluded. It was a fact that no one was willing to acknowledge, but one that they could not afford to ignore. The men grew silent at his words, no one dared to speak, wondering amongst themselves who was the spy.

Katsumoto cleared his throat and eyed all that were present in the hall. "There would be no use guessing," he said sternly while setting his chopsticks onto the rim of his rice-bowl. "The spy would be revealed in time. He cannot hide forever. Besides… the Westerner who died was French, he was not British."

Out of the many Western nations that entered Japan that hoped to win her people over with their wares, only the British sided with the Ishin-Shishi. Only the British dared to take a risk to side with those who would risk their lives for their own ideals, their own ends, and Katsumoto knew one thing that the Bakufu did not. "The Westerner that they killed was not a British citizen, he was a Dutchman."

Katsura raised an eyebrow. "You knew the man?" he asked his companion, who shook his head. "Tell us, Katsumoto-san, how was it that you came to know the identity of the dead Westerner."

"He was simply wearing a Dutch naval uniform. The British prefer reds, I think," Katsumoto answered off-handedly after indicating that he had already seen the bodies. "Besides, I am sure that the trade commissioner would be storming down the halls of this very inn if any British person was killed last night."

Ryuka did not know whether to laugh or to grimace at her teacher's words, and continued eating her breakfast. Nobutada, on the other hand, just shifted uneasily. He was used to his father's deadpan humor, but he feared that the others would be offended by it. Thankfully, Katsura showed no indication that he was unable to stomach Katsumoto's words, and Nobutada was able to continue to face the other men in the room.

"Ryuka, what are your views on this?" Katsura asked Ryuka after noting that she had been silent for a long while. "What should we do if there is a spy among us?"

Bowing, she answered, "I think that we should wait, like Shishou said. If there really was a spy, he might be dining with us right now at this very moment, and we can do nothing about it without breaking up our ranks from the inside."

Katsura nodded and shared a knowing look with Katsumoto. The girl was a shrewd one, just like her father was. "It looks like we have made the right choice in deciding to bring Ryuka to the forefront, my friend," Katsura said after Ryuka had left after breakfast with most of the men. "She is sharp of wit… most men would find a woman like her a most able wife."

"I only ask that he will regard her in a manner that she wishes," Katsumoto replied at his friend's rather playful jest. He knew that Katsura would not even dare to bring it up to Ryuka. "She was not raised as a common girl."

"A Westerner, then?" Katsura asked. "Would that suit her tastes more?"

"We shall have to see," Katsumoto answered. "Shouldn't we move soon, Katsura-san, we have a meeting to attend, do we not?"

* * *

The air was tense in the widest room of the stately teahouse that the British had chosen to meet with the Chōshū forces, Graham thought that those with swords could easy cut it into thin pieces, but the tension resided not between the British and the Chōshū, but right within the Chōshū faction itself. There they were, the proud Japanese that had actually called to remove all foreign influences from their government, participating in talks to buy the latest British weapons to defeat the Bakufu, who were buying French ones.

"Brothers, we cannot argue amongst ourselves any longer," said one man of medium height and stocky build. His name was Omura Masujiro, the son of a physician, and one of the many Rangaku scholars that had known Ryuka's father. "If we are to defeat the Bakufu, we must acquire these weapons."

"How do we know that we can trust them?" Yamagata asked Omura. One of the youngest of the top command chain in the Chōshū-han, Yamagata was ever-cautious and stalwart. No one could move him at all if he was not convinced. "What if their weapons backfired and we were shot by bullets instead?"

Graham cleared his throat. "Yamagata-san, I am quite sure that these weapons were made with expert hands," he translated on behalf of the British Trade Commissioner. "You can test them out if you wished, in an open area."

"We cannot do that now," Katsumoto replied in English and then in Japanese. "Doing so would be an open act of defiance to the Bakufu, giving them more than enough cause to call an all-out attack on us." The pain and humiliation of the First Chōshū Expedition was still fresh in his mind, he did not want to further risk the safety of his men any more than he needed to.

"Well then, we should come with a compromise," Katsura said, breaking the stalemate. "We shall have a few of the British agents as our 'guests' while we figure out a way to test their wares while we provide our own men to act as theirs."

The room was immediately silenced, save for Graham who continued to translate. Ryuka and Nobutada remained stoic, while Katsumoto was… troubled. It was a good call by Katsura, but he did not know how feasible it would be. Nevertheless, his eyes turned towards that of the British tradesmen and cocked an eyebrow at them. He certainly did not want most of them to know that he could speak English, and decided to decipher whatever they had to say about Katsura's suggestion.

"Are you mad? They'll slit our throats if they have the chance!" one of them haggled.

"We don't have a choice, do we? If we walk out of the deal, _someone_ else might jump in!" argued another.

"_They_ are the ones desperate for the guns, make them sign on _our_ terms!" insisted yet a third.

At the end, it was Nobutada who offered himself up. "I volunteer myself to be a guest of the British," he said calmly, not even looking at Graham, the interpreter, but at Graham's bosses directly. As always, Katsumoto offered a stern nod, proclaiming his approval of his son's actions. However, he reached his hand to the left just as Ryuka was about to rise, tapping on the back of her hand once. Hers was a stern warning _not_ to emulate Nobutada at all.

"Lord Katsumoto's son volunteers," Graham translated, emphasizing on Katsumoto's identity as a daimyo, which could at some amount of credibility to him.

"I'll go then," said a dark-haired man with green eyes. Two others followed, and so two more from the Chōshū-han also volunteered themselves. They exchanged sides and sat down stiffly, each regarding their "new" environments.

"Well then, where were we…" the Trade Commissioner asked, only to be interrupted by a large group of shadows suddenly visible from the shoji doors.

Slowly, at the back of the room, Ryuka stood up and raised her katana from its katana with her thumb. She sensed trouble was at hand.

"This is the Third Unit of the Shinsen-Gumi, open this door!"

Quickly, the British opened a hidden door that looked like a cupboard for their clients, and all of them went through it. No wonder they had chosen that particular tea-house for the meeting-venue. It was most likely that the British already knew that the Shinsen-Gumi would barge in at any time.

Graham gulped and opened the door the moment the last of the Chōshū had escaped, only to find fully-armed men with their katana ready to cleave necks right before him. "Gentlemen, I assure you that we are merely enjoying tea…"

One brandishing of a katana was enough to silence him. The British Trade Commissioner steeled his expression and nodded at the tall, lanky man that carried the headband of the Captain. He was an imposing man with the air of a killer.

"I smell a rat," the Captain said. His name was Saito Hajime, one of the Shinsen-Gumi's most fearsome swordsmen. His voice was deep and rough, the voice of a jaded warrior. "They must not be far."

"What do we do about the Westerners?" asked one of the Shinsen-Gumi.

"Leave them," Saito ordered. Before long, another one of his subordinates came in and reported that Katsumoto had been spotted running into a back-alley nearby. Without wasting any time, he quickly ran out of the tea-house, making sure that he would catch the biggest prey ever.

"The Wolves of Mibu are behind us!" Nobutada exclaimed, immediately unsheathing his katana. However, his father came up to him and made sure that he stayed out of danger. "But Chichiue!"

"Let Ryuka and I take care of this. You will keep Katsura-san safe," Katsumoto interjected while Ryuka came up beside him, ready to put up a fight. There was no choice for Nobutada but to obey his father's orders.

"Don't worry," Ryuka reassured Katsumoto right after his son left. "I will make sure that none of those bastards rape Nobutada." As always, the Shinsen-Gumi had sent their pawns first, with Saito glowering behind the ten men that had come with him. The first two men that dared to even approach the teacher and student were cut down in mere seconds.

Katsumoto chuckled. "I was about to tell you the same thing, child," he retorted, piercing his katana into the belly of yet another Shinsen-Gumi lapdog while Ryuka knocked another one onto the nearby wall with a powerful kick, killing him by throwing her wakizashi into his heart.

They were sure that they had caught Saito's eye. Looking back, Ryuka made sure that Katsura and Nobutada were safely at a distance and went into the stance that her father had taught her.

"You have the look of Tsubasa Shintaro on you, girl," Saito snarled. "You must be that daughter of his, pretending to be a samurai."

Ryuka harrumphed. "I am one," she answered plainly, clearly agitating the Captain even more with her defiance. Her sapphire eyes were glowing, challenging the Captain. Seconds passed and the sudden gust of wind seemed to mark the start of what would be Ryuka's first major duel with a strongman from the enemy's side, but as they ran towards each other, katana in high guards, ready to rend flesh, many footsteps were clearly heard, along with the cries of at least fifteen men.

"Protect our lord!" shouted a male voice. It was Nakao, who had clearly come from the Chōshū headquarters. Soon, both Katsumoto and Ryuka were surrounded by familiar faces, enclosed by a formation of raised swords. "You will not take the lives of our lord, Mibu-dog!"

Saito straightened himself and sheathed his katana. "There is no sport in killing such foolish hounds of a rebel lord," he jeered and turned his back on them. He and his men would return to their hold, and they would be ready to attack again at any hint of mischief.

Once Saito had left, Nakao finally relaxed. "That was the most frightening moment of my life!" he exclaimed, knowing full well that Katsumoto could hear him. Saito Hajime's infamy as a cold-blooded killer far preceded him. In fact, he was so calm of mind and action that no hint of Ki, the spirit of the swordsman, could be sensed at all, which made him all the more intimidating. "You, girl! You should have known better than to challenge him directly!"

Ryuka received a knock on the back of her head from Nakao for her "carelessness", while Ujio, Katsumoto's right-hand chastised his lord for being so reckless.

"The both of you are lucky that Nobutada returned to the headquarters in time," Ujio continued severely. "If we had not been able to reach you…"

Katsumoto cut Ujio off with a smile and a hand to Ujio's shoulder. "We would have been used as stew for Saito's dinner, I know," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I thank you all for coming to save us, and now, let us return so that we can further come up with a decision whether or not to buy those British guns."


	4. A New Age

It was chaos. On the 4th of January, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Shogun of Japan had formally seceded his authority to the Emperor, it had been a hard-won victory, but even as the Shogunate had apparently fallen, matters of the court were still directed to the actions of the Tokugawa family despite the Emperor's majority of 15 years of age. Katsumoto was furious while Katsura stayed with their men at the Chōshū headquarters in Kyoto. Saigo Takamori, leader of the Satsuma-han had physically threatened the court to confiscate the lands of the Tokugawa clan, but to no avail.

Only slightly defeated, Tokugawa Yoshinobu moved to his stronghold at Osaka Castle. On the 17th of January, he issued an edict that he would not be bound by the proclamation of Restoration and ordered the Court to rescind it. Following further provocation by the Satsuma-han's ronin in Edo, he decided to attack Kyoto city, and the numbers that he was rumored to be sending were staggering.

"The Shogun has sent 15000 men to attack Kyoto!" people shouted all over the city. Panic took the ancient capital city of Japan and its denizens evacuated east into the countryside. Those who could fight stayed there, guarding the seat of the Emperor.

On the pretext of sending a letter to His Imperial Majesty to expose the so-called crimes of Ishin patriots at court like Katsumoto and his associates, the Shogun had deployed his soldiers from Osaka Castle in order to dislodge the Satsuma and Chōshū clans from the city. Both forces would not move an inch.

Nakao did not like the odds that had been confirmed. They had been fighting in the city for several years, but facing an army that outnumbered them three to one was impossible. "My Lord, are you sure we can survive this?" he asked Katsumoto.

"Our men are well-trained and we have more Western weapons than they do," Katsumoto said, defiant over the vast discrepancy of fighters. He looked at the faces of both Ryuka and Nobutada. Over the four years of active participation in the conflict, the two of them had grown immensely. Having learned to fight as one unit, his son and apprentice had managed to stay a powerful and formidable force amongst the Chōshū ranks. Both of them showed no fear, and like him, they knew the Shogun had in fact made a terrible mistake by attacking them. "The Shogun has misjudged his advantage over numbers alone; there can be no greater full than he."

At Osaka Bay, British ships were making ready to fire at the Castle should Kyoto fall, due to the opening of Osaka and Hyogo as trading-ports just three weeks ago, and with the Shogun ill at bed, the morale of his men was so low that the 5000 men of the Satchō Alliance were sure to be able to crush them by spirit alone.

On the 27th of January, the Shogun's forces were deployed, and all of the combatants under the banner of the Satchō Alliance were called to fight.

"Ryuka, you will go to the palace and protect the Emperor," Katsumoto ordered his apprentice once the first signs of cannon fire could be heard. "The Court already knows of this arrangement, go!"

Ryuka refused. "I will stay here with you, Shishou!" she retorted, staring Katsumoto down with her sapphire eyes.

"You will do as you are ordered, Tsubasa Ryuka!" Katsumoto roared. He had never used that tone of voice on Ryuka before, and thus, she knew that he was serious. "You can find a charge no more honorable than this. Men would die for this chance. Do it for me, please. There is no one I trust more, child."

Nobutada decided to stay with his father. "Ryuka, I will take care of Chichiue," he reassured her with a soft smile so reminiscent of Katsumoto's. "Go without worries."

"Then I will go," Ryuka replied and bowed to the both of them before leaving for the Imperial Palace. "Be safe," she silently prayed, words that they would never hear.

* * *

"So, you are Tsubasa Ryuka?" Young Emperor Meiji looked at the girl that his teacher had sent to protect him. The girl nodded and bowed. She wore gi and hakama as if she was a miko, but her attire was not red and white. Her gi was of a navy color, bordered by red flowers while her hakama was black, tied just below her bustline. Like the men she wore a katana and a wakizashi, having inherited the title of samurai from her father. He had heard of this miraculous onna-bugeisha, the other student of his wise teacher. He had heard of how she protected the men that rallied to restore his divine rights and powers from the Shogun's hold, how fearless she was in battle. But before him was a girl, slightly older than he was at 18, but still a girl nonetheless.

Bowing again, she gave him an affirmative answer. Her voice was clear, but he was surprised that it did not sound like a man's. He thought a woman who fought like a man would most certainly act like one. "I am here to protect Your Imperial Majesty, under orders of my Shishou, Katsumoto Moritsugu." Once her words ended, she lifted her head and returned his gentle gaze. "I thank you for the honor of allowing my presence."

Emperor Meiji was stunned. He had not seen such eyes before. Why… the color of her eyes matched that of her gi! "Your eyes…" he stuttered, and Ryuka bowed again.

"My mother was said to be a Dutchwoman," Ryuka answered plainly. "She died when I was very, very young, but my father always told me that they had met in Nagasaki, where the Dutch were often seen trading with our countrymen." It was a credible story, for the Dutch had been the only Western government which Japan allowed trade with. For several centuries the Dutch had been based in Dejima, their only access point to the Western world… Also, it would be the only logical way that she could have such blue eyes.

"She must have been an extraordinary beauty, to have given the world a woman such as you," the Emperor continued, clearly praising Ryuka. No one had ever said those words to her before. Blushing, she retracted her head and stood at the place indicated by the nobles present. "Ryuka, I have an order for you," he told her once the air had stifled a bit. "You have been fighting by Katsumoto's side, yes? I want you to tell me _everything_ that has happened. Do not leave anything out."

Ryuka's eyes widened, but she did as she was told.

That night, Saigo Takamori, Katsura Kogoro, Okubo Toshimichi as well as Katsumoto Moritsugu came to the Emperor for an audience. They reported to him that the Satsuma forces had encountered the Bakufu's troops on the Toba front, and rained them with cannon fire. There, their enemies were forced to retreat, but had the gall to set random houses on fire as they were pushed back. Such efforts only made them easier to be picked up by the sharpshooters of the Satsuma faction.

The Emperor did not show any emotion. He did not speak at all, for that matter. Only receiving a nod after the first half of the report, the leaders of the Satchō Alliance carried on.

"Your Imperial Majesty, the Bakufu deployed the Shinsen-Gumi at Fushimi, backed by the Aizu-han as well," Katsumoto reported, "the battle there was inconclusive, but we are sure that we would have the upper hand if the fight continues."

It was then when the Emperor sighed. "This fight _must_ not continue," he told all of them. "Ever since the Black Ships landed, there has not been a year of peace for our people. I do not wish to hear any more news of the dead and the dying." As young as he was, Meiji knew that the Shogunate was _not_ able to win, not when the Satchō Alliance had greater arms, despite their lesser numbers. A new age was coming to Japan, and he knew that the winds of change did not favor the Bakufu, no matter what happened. "I want this war ended within three years."

All four of the Ishin-Shishi leaders were stunned. Traditionally, Emperors did not have any stand in politics at all. Katsumoto, although an Imperial Teacher, only instructed him knowledge traditionally taught to Emperors – history, poetry, writing, and a little geography. How could the Emperor have gained so much knowledge about the outside world?

"I asked Tsubasa Ryuka to tell me everything she knew," the Emperor explained. "It seems that I have grown an extra pair of eyes since this morning." All eyes fell on Ryuka, who bowed slightly and said nothing more. "I know now that war cannot be avoided, but it must be dealt with swiftly and quickly if peace and reform are to be properly settled within our nation."

For the very first time, the Japanese courtiers heard the resoluteness of a young Emperor in what might have been centuries, and they were awed at the youth before them. It was at that moment when they knew that they had not made the wrong decision at all, that they were sure that this Emperor would be a fitting symbol to propel Japan to a new age.

"Then Your Imperial Majesty must be ready to do what Your Imperial Majesty's predecessors did not dare to do," said one of his ministers, one Iwakura Tomomi, the one who gave the green-light to the Satchō Alliance to seize the Imperial Palace. "Your Imperial Majesty must grant the Satsuma and Chōshū-han the use of the Imperial Banners."

The Imperial Banners depicted the sun and moon upon a red field, and once used in the battlefield, the combined forces of the Satchō Alliance would be part of the Imperial Army. Legally, they would have the right to exist, because no matter if the Emperor was a puppet, his army had more legal ground and backing than that of the Shogun's own. _This_ was a weapon greater in might that the latest cannon or gun. It was a psychological one, one that would bring down the Shogun's army just by the very sight of it.

"Another step that must be taken would be to install Prince Yoshiaki to be the Commander in Chief of the Army," Katsura offered gently, knowing that the Emperor was already deep in thought. Prince Yoshiaki was the Emperor's brother, he himself a young man of twenty-two, a young man who preferred a more… ascetic lifestyle. The Prince would be one of the first Imperial figure-heads that would be used by the Satchō Alliance, and Ryuka knew that the Emperor would be next.

"I will grant you every wish so long as you give me only victory," the Emperor said with a sigh. "Only victory can ensure the preservation of your lives now."

Oh, they all knew that failure was not an option. It had _never_ been an option for them, for if they had lost, it would mean that their efforts would have gone for naught, but also, their lands, and their families would suffer. The treason that they had committed was enough to ensure beheading, and not hara-kiri. Their kin and homelands would be shamed forever until the ending of Japanese culture.

Even the Emperor would himself suffer a worse fate than be just a puppet ruler if the Shogun would win in the upcoming conflict. What horrors awaited him, he dared not imagine.

"We will fight to the last man, Your Imperial Majesty," Katsumoto pledged to the Emperor. "To ensure that the future of Japan will be lived under your great reign."

So it came to pass that with coming dawn when the forces of the Satchō Alliance once again clash with that of the Shogunate's on both fronts: from Toba and from Fushimi. With the Imperial Banners used among their ranks, held so clearly for their enemy to see, the Shogun's forces were led into utter disarray and panic, for whoever dared to attack the bearers of the Banners would be seen as being traitors to the Emperor. With no other choice, the Shogun's soldiers retreated into a nearby forest, waiting for a chance to launch a counter-attack.

"How is it that mere bolts of embroidered cloth cause so much disturbance?" the Emperor asked Ryuka privately on the 29th of January. "Are the Bakufu soldiers not fighting for their own causes as well?"

"They hesitate because in their hearts and minds, their choice to side with the Bakufu was out of duty and service, to quell what they saw as a rebellion," Ryuka answered. "But when they saw the Imperial Banners borne by our leaders, they dared not to attack, because we are now part of the Imperial Army. We have just enough legitimate claim to exist as a martial entity as they do, because we are _your _soldiers, _your_ Shishi."

At that point in time, Ryuka realized that she had suddenly forgotten the rules of formality and immediately dropped to her knees, begging for forgiveness. The Emperor only smiled and helped her to rise. "Henceforth, I give you the authority to speak clearly to me, Tsubasa Ryuka," the Emperor proclaimed. "You are, after all, my second pair of eyes."

That afternoon, the Shogunate forces were forced to retreat to Yodo Castle after the Shinsen-Gumi, their Aizu-han masters as well as their supporting guerilla troops were attacked on two fronts at Takasegawa and Ujigawa. However, they were left at the mercy of the Daimyo of Yodo, who refused them entry. Left with no other option, they retreated from whence they had been spawned – Osaka Castle.

Relentless, the Imperial Army – mainly consisting of combatants loyal to the Satchō Ishin-Shishi, marched upon Osaka Castle, breaking Tokugawa Yoshinobu's morale the moment he laid eyes on the Imperial Banners. Ever the coward, the Shogun slipped away from his own fortress and boarded an American warship while waiting for his vessel to arrive from Edo Bay. The Shogunate forces were defeated within a single day, and Osaka Castle, once the symbol of the Shogun's power and might in western Japan was surrendered to the Imperial Army by the Shogun's own advisors.

* * *

January 31st 1868 was the day the Shogun finally surrendered to the Emperor, relinquishing all his military and political authority.

Japan was now a nation born anew – preparing to rise like a phoenix from its own ashes.

The days of the Meiji Era had now come.


	5. Meetings

"_I lived a life of service, a life of honor and duty. All I want is a moment of freedom, to be known as only who I am, and not what I have done, or what I will do."_

A woman's voice filled his head. It was accented, but clear. It seemed like it belonged to someone who had seen all the horrors of the world... Someone just like him.

"_I owe my life to my teacher, please, I beg you, turn him from this path of self-destruction!"_

He could not see her face, but he could sense her anguish. She was pleading him for a reason, but he did not know what it was.

"_Nathan, if I do not make it… please forget me."_

How could he ever forget a voice that seemed so strong, yet so sad? Did she love him? Or rather, did he love her?

Wait a moment…

Why was her voice in his dreams? Why wasn't he having nightmares of the blood of the innocent?

"_There is life in every breath, you foolish American. You haven't lived until you know that there is truth in this phrase."_

* * *

US Captain Nathan Algren woke up feeling disoriented. It was not the sway of the ocean against the massive passenger ship he was in, but the dream that he had just woken up from. He did not know the nature of it, and the more he tried to remember it, the more he tried to piece it together, the more the dream slipped away from his memory.

Twenty minutes later, he gave up. Knowing that he was not able to get any more sleep, he ventured out of his small cabin, and decided to get some fresh (albeit) sea air.

It was not yet dawn, but he could see the first hints of sunlight across the eastern horizon. His thoughts then drifted to the country that would be his home for the six months once the ship made port at Yokohama Bay.

Japan.

The Land of the Rising Sun.

But if Mr. Omura could be trusted at all, Japan was not all majesty- its history was bloody, just like every fledging nation. Just like his country – the United States of America, they had just emerged from a bloody civil war, and were rebuilding themselves with the best minds the Western world could offer. He was just one of them, a military veteran with a skill for tactics.

He had seen the books that he had bought before he came on the ship – those that introduced Japan to Western travelers depicting beautiful red-lacquered bridges and temples, peaceful gardens with ponds of golden-orange carps swimming among lotuses. He could not believe that within the same setting, a nation had been split into two, seemingly for their ideals. But then again, was it so hard to imagine in the context of his country, with its mountains that seemed to pierce the clouds, or green fields that stretched further than the eye could see?

Before he knew it, he saw an arc of light over the horizon. The sun was beginning to rise.

It was then when he saw her, an Oriental woman about his height. He was a tall specimen, but people of her ethnicity were generally petite. She seemed to be anything but. With a smile, her head tipped forwards towards him and she went her way without saying anything. The last thing that he saw of her was the patterns of her silken Japanese traditional dress being reflected onto the deck from the sun's emerging light.

After walking a few steps away from him, she suddenly turned back. "You look like a man who can handle the sword," she told him, her voice cheerful. "Perhaps we should spar one day, before we reach Japan."

He did not answer her. It was not that he was too shocked to accept the challenge of a duel from a woman, but the fact that she knew that he could wield a sword. How could she even tell?

"Her name is Tsubasa Ryuka," said a voice that came beside him. It was Mr. Omura, freshly dressed for the morning. "Believe it or not, she was the only woman to fight alongside the Imperialist cause during our little revolution about a decade ago." There was no hint of admiration in Mr. Omura's voice, Nathan Algren could definitely detect that he did not take this Tsubasa Ryuka lightly.

"How did she know that I can fight?" Algren asked Mr. Omura.

"We Japanese believe in something called 'Ki', the spirit of a warrior," Mr. Omura replied. "Ki allows us to sense the intentions of our enemies and also to some extent, their capabilities. The stronger the warrior, the stronger their Ki is, and the greater their accuracy in assessing other warriors' Ki as well."

"That means that she is an able fighter?"

"One of the very best in Japan."

Ten days had passed, but he caught no sight of the woman he had met on the deck at sunrise.

"Just be patient, boyo," said Zebulon Gant, his friend and subordinate that had accompanied him from America. Zeb, as he preferred to be called, would be acting as his sergeant once their job began. "That lassie isn't going to end up anywhere apart from on this ship. She has to appear sometime."

At that point of time, Algren was irritated, but not at the seeming disappearance of the mysterious woman, but at that cheeky undertone that Zeb had taken. The irritation soon dissipated, and they were soon reminiscing on the past, on how many times that they had saved each other's sorry ass (or arse, in Zeb's manner of speech).

* * *

It was during the twelfth night since meeting Tsubasa Ryuka that Algren finally saw her again. But that time, he knew that she did not realize that he was near. Thinking that she was alone on the deck in the middle of the night, she unsheathed a Japanese sword, which actually resembled a long, thin kitchen-knife to Algren's eyes and started practicing.

Her movements were fluid, every stroke filled with a strength that only one proficient in the martial arts could glean from another. Algren watched silently as she made the sets of combat moves that she was going through look like some ethereal dance.

After what seemed to be an eternity, or only twenty minutes, she stopped and looked towards him. "So, good sir, have you come to answer my challenge?" she asked him. "I have training swords of the purpose if you require it."

Algren chuckled and shook his head. He now realized that her challenge held no weight at all. "I wouldn't dream of attacking you, Miss Tsubasa," he replied. Upon hearing her name escape his lips, she cocked her head leftwards in curiosity, wondering how he came upon it. "Mr. Omura told me," he explained quickly, causing her expression to light up.

"Ah, so he did," she said, and sheathed her sword. "That man has been disapproving of my… adventures ever since the Meiji Era dawned upon Japan. I should have known that he would be on this ship."

"Adventures?" Algren asked.

"Oh, after the Ishin-Shishi, that is the Imperialist forces won the war, I decided to travel the world. As all Japanese men, he preferred me to stay at home and keep a husband," Tsubasa Ryuka replied nonchalantly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "I told him that I fought for our nation as much as he did, and I deserve to be unfettered to the chains of motherhood and wifehood at the very least."

Algren did not know how to reply to those words because even in America, women were expected to marry and have children after a certain age. Meeting a well-armed one was already an eye-opening experience, but a well-travelled one from Japan, he really did not know how to react. He was just a man, after all.

Tsubasa Ryuka then stopped talking and came up to him. "Forgive me, I talk too much," she apologized. "But where are my manners! You already know my name, but I do not know yours!"

"I'm Nathan Algren," he told her. He did not speak further, and so she did not press on.

"Thank you, Mr. Algren, for tolerating my presence," she replied, smiling brightly. With another curt nod of her head, she walked to a nearby corridor and disappeared from his sight, leaving him slightly winded from their meeting, for whatever reason. He did not see her again, until the ship reached Yokohama Bay.

Once the gangplank was let down, Algren caught sight of Tsubasa Ryuka, dressed in a navy traditional outfit that mirrored the color of her eyes.

"This is where I leave you, Mr. Algren," she told him, carrying her luggage all by herself. "I am off to meet my teacher, who has taken up residence in the outskirts of Tokyo city."

"Will we meet again?" Algren asked her, since he was going to be based in Tokyo anyways.

"Perhaps fate could arrange something," she replied and went on her way, disappearing into the disembarking masses. Not a few minutes later, he saw Colonel Bagley and Mr. Omura seating themselves into a rickshaw, while Tsubasa Ryuka was seen talking to a short and rotund fellow who was definitely not Japanese. As a few more moments passed, she disappeared for a second time and the man that she had been talking to waved at him.

"Captain Algren, I presume?" the man asked him. He was most definitely English by the twang of his voice.

"Yes," Algren replied hesitantly, wondering what role the Englishman would play in the grand scheme of things.

"Oh jolly good, how do you do?" the Englishman asked Algren while shaking his hand. "I'm Simon Graham."

As the grand scheme of things started to play out while Algren and Graham rode on the same rickshaw with Zeb on the one behind them with the luggage, Algren realized that Graham was their translator. He had been in Japan for a long, long while, ever since the American Commodore Perry embarked upon the shores of Japan and forced the Shogunate to open the doors of trade, and was now well-versed in Japanese culture.

"Twenty years ago, this was a sleepy little town," Graham told Algren as they passed into Tokyo city. "Now look at it!" Algren looked from left to right and then from right to left, and found a most interesting mix of the Western and the Oriental. There were woman dressed in flowing silken robes, their faces painted white as marble and their lips painted blood-red, walking with tall Russians, embarked in deep conversation with the help of an interpreter, young Japanese men wearing the latest Western suits, while older Japanese dressed in what Graham told Algren to be kimono, read leather-bound books in English and Dutch. "Now that the Bakumatsu had ended, the Emperor is mad for all things Western, and the Samurai believe that this is changing too fast. The ancient and the modern are at war for the soul of Japan. So your new employer, Mr. Omura, is bringing in every Western expert that he can get – lawyers from France, engineers from Germany, architects from Holland, and now of course, warriors from America."

Algren did not once interrupt Graham as he told his yarn. He needed to know as much as this new and foreign country as he could in the fastest time possible. "I came over with the British trade mission, oh, years ago," Graham elaborated. "I was soon relieved of my position, though. I had an unfortunate tendency to tell the truth in a country where no one ever says what they mean. So now I very accurately translate everyone's lies. Gory business, those first days, mind you. The Emperor's men were fighting with the Shogun's soldiers for political control and the Imperialists had to supply their own men to protect us so that we could sell them the guns to defeat the enemy!"

"So where does Tsubasa Ryuka get into the picture?" Algren asked, defeated by his curiosity for the mysterious woman. "Mr. Omura seems to be very familiar with her."

"Ah, she is a rare gem, that girl," Graham answered. "Orphaned at fourteen, she went to look for work with her father's liege-lords and was adopted as a student. It turned out that she was such an excellent fighter that the Imperialists used her as a guard of sorts. But now during peacetime, she acts as the Emperor's "eyes". She travels the world, telling the Emperor whatever she's seen and done. She's been to China, Singapore, Western Europe and the Americas within these 10 years, imagine that!" Algren wondered if her travels had made her seem so different from her countrywomen, who were demure and elegant while she had a ready smile and an outgoing personality. "She's also rumored to be the first ever woman who rejected the chance of being the Empress of Japan, but I don't put much weight on those claims. All in all, she's a nice little darling. She has blue eyes because her mother was a Dutchwoman, makes her look like some sort of... Oriental spirit if you ask me."

Algren remained silent. Somehow, he had a feeling that he would see her again, and it might be sooner than he would expect. Nevertheless, he was there to work, and for five hundred US Dollars a month, he would make sure that he would do a damned great job, no matter what it took.

* * *

HAN: Ah, so finally we see Nathan Algren! ^.^ I hope you liked it so far! Oh and I wish to thank my dear unofficial beta SWlee HAH HAH HAH. Thanks for tolerating my hasty proofreading. I have also changed the title of this story, because I think the new one fits better. 龍華 in kanji is read as Ryuka, and can be translated as the Dragon-Flower or the Dragon's Flower.


	6. Return

With the ebb and flow of the sea still beneath her feet after weeks on a ship, Ryuka managed to make her way into the Imperial Palace via a secret passage carved onto the eastern walls. The Imperial Palace, newly-built since the Emperor moved the capital of Japan from Kyoto to Tokyo, occupied a total area of 3.41 kilometers squared, and consisted of the main palace building, private residences for the Imperial Family, as well as many massive and expansive gardens.

Once she made her way to the main corridor, an attendant saw her and gave her a polite, but slightly informal bow. She was known in those halls, for her close companionship with the Emperor since the last days of the Bakumatsu made sure that her presence in the Imperial Palace was something that could not be removed, even if she was not personally there.

A right turn and three more lefts brought her to a room that only she had access to, and it was a Western-styled room, opened with a key that only she had. When she opened it, she realized that there was already somebody there.

"How were your travels, Ryuka?" the Emperor asked her once she prostrated herself before his Imperial presence. Friend or no, certain forms of protocol _had_ to be observed, no matter who they were. Holding out his hand, he helped her to rise.

"It was… enlightening," Ryuka replied, remembering that the Emperor wanted to find out more about the Chinese – why Japan had been so deeply influenced by their closest and greatest neighbor to date. "You cannot imagine how enamored the Chinese are with themselves, that they would see anything new and unknown as an insult to their own national pride."

The Emperor furrowed his brows. "Tell me more," he commanded Ryuka, and she did as he wished.

"The Chinese peasants live in utter squalor," she told the Emperor, "when winter comes, they eat field mice and sweet potatoes, if they cannot find any, they will kill their old and their young. This insult is paid even more by the fact that the Empress Dowager, Cixi, who lives a life of luxury with the Imperial Court, hoarding power while her young son, the Emperor of China is waiting to reach the age of majority."

It was then when the Emperor chuckled and put down the cup of tea in his hand. "And what about your travels around the southern provinces of China, what did you see there?" he asked, knowing that she liked to go through the formal reports before settling on more… leisurely topics. He had specifically made a request to Ryuka to visit Jiangnan, a territory named so because it was located to the south of the Yangtze River, because he had read about the legendary visits of Emperor Qianlong there, dressed as a commoner.

"That place is a land of mountains and of water," Ryuka repeated, "There, the waters of the Yangtze River flows in the numerous branches, cutting across towns and cities, connected by bridges. It is as if Venice has come to China. In the countryside, I saw mountains being reflected in the waters of jade-colored lakes, and the blue sky pierced by green mountains that reach as far as the eyes can see."

The Emperor, of course, was not satisfied with such a short description of the area. He was a man who consumed everything that was new to him. To sate his fascination, Ryuka showed him the paintings that she had bought from local artists, all too eager to sell their works to a young, foreign traveler.

"You are lucky, Ryuka," the Emperor sighed, once she ended her tale. "You have the freedom to see the world, and experience such beauty, while I am trapped here, being nothing more than an idolized shadow." He caressed the mountains on the paintings longingly, and looked at her with a forced smile. "I am sure that the Emperor of China has the same life as I."

Ryuka sighed. "He does," she replied with eyes directly regarding the Emperor. She could do so when they were alone. Then and there, they were only Mutsuhito, son of the Imperial Family of Japan, and Tsubasa Ryuka, the onna bugeisha, perhaps, the only one true friend he had similar to his age.

"Then I am more blessed than he is, for I have you to be my eyes and ears," he told her. "You have served me well these past years." Slowly, the Emperor put his hand upon hers, and held them gently.

She knew where this conversation was going, having been by his side for close to a decade. "I can only give you what I have," she added. "My eyes… my ears… whatever comforts you seek from me." It was an unspoken deal between them, one that Katsumoto did not know of. She did not remember when it had started, but once the Emperor began to fully trust her, he had taken her to his bed despite already having an Empress, and she had not taken any other man as her lover for respect of her ruler. There had been a time when the fire between them grew hot, but it was all but gone in recent years. She knew that she could not forever live like this, to live and to serve a monarch, bounded by tradition. Ten years of traveling made her a different woman, one that valued her freedom more than anything else.

"That is why there is one last thing that I must ask of you, Ryuka," the Emperor said, caressing the high planes of her cheek. "I will release you from service, if you would consent to act as the bodyguard of the American captain sent here to train our soldiers."

Ryuka's sapphire eyes widened. The Emperor had many unusual requests, but this one… "Why?" she asked, uttering no further words. Her brow was furrowed, and she did not leave his gaze, questioning his request.

The Emperor chuckled and brought her into his arms. "They say that Americans would risk life and limb to secure their freedom, you hold the same ideals," he explained to her, his voice gentle and serene, as he always had been. "I would also have you report on the great military tactics he holds, how they differ from that of ours."

At those words, Ryuka smiled. "I would do as you wish, Emperor," she told him, regaining her usual expression, despite her confusion towards this last command. She knew how comforting such a face could be for a man like him. It had become a mask for her, knowing that she did not have to deal with the complexities in his head at that current moment of time.

"I have already told Omura about this," the Emperor told her with a twinkle in his eye. "You will have to report at the base at first light."

"Hai," she replied affirmatively, bowing her head low. When her head was raised again, her eyes were met with a package that the Emperor now held in his hands. It was traditionally wrapped, bound by a furoshiki – a silken piece of fabric woven so finely that it appeared almost translucent. Slowly she unwrapped the package, and discovered that she had been given a military uniform, but was cut to a more feminine silhouette.

"I remember a time when you wore a man's gi and hakama with fabric made for women," the Emperor told her. "Now that I am sending you back into the field, you shall wear something similar."

Ryuka did not say a word. She knew that she did not have to. The Emperor knew her like no man ever could. It was but a small gift from the man Japan idolized as a living God, but she knew the amount of thought that had been given into such a gift. Without any thought, she embraced him – a gesture that she had not given him on her own accord for a long, long time. She felt his hold over her tighten, and rested her head on the crook of his neck. "I wish you all the happiness in the world, heika," she told him when the embrace ended.

"And I you," he replied, and kissed her hand lightly before allowing her to go. She would have to attend another audience - one with his chief wife, the Empress-Consort of Japan.

* * *

Empress Haruko was waiting for Ryuka in yet another room when the latter was released from her audience with the Emperor. It had been a custom for the three of them – one the Imperial husband, the other the woman he had given his heart to. She did not begrudge Ryuka for her relationship with the Emperor, who was a polygamist as his fathers had been, and as the time passed, she had come to enjoy the company of the girl whose age was similar to hers.

"You know, I was the one who provided your measurements to His Imperial Majesty," the Empress told Ryuka over tea. The Empress preferred a Western tea-service, not for its taste but for its relative informality compared to that of a Japanese one. "He wanted to give you something that is practical for your use, yet one that you could never forget."

"I am forever grateful for it," Ryuka replied, putting down her tea-cup. "The two of you have been too kind to me."

The Empress chuckled. "Nonsense, you, Ryuka, have brought much joy to a man who has only known the scope of his duties," she told Ryuka. "I remember when you came into the throne room, bloodied from war, gore still hanging from your katana… Such power you held in a world where no other woman dared to venture." Like the Emperor, the Empress had lived the life of a gilded cage. Born from one of the five Fujiwara clans, she had known since birth that she was destined to be a woman of the court – if not the Empress. Yet, she realized that it was her duty to do so, as Ryuka did when she was first sent to protect the Emperor during the last days of the Bakumatsu. She remembered how angry she had been when the Emperor had taken a concubine – a cousin from the same clan, and how betrayed she had felt when she knew that Ryuka had become the Emperor's lover.

"I do only what I must," Ryuka explained, words that she knew that the Empress had heard to no end. "Yet I realize that without your blessing, heika would not have… approached me."

"Do not over-flatter yourself," the Empress chided her jokingly. "It is common knowledge that I am a barren woman. How am I to secure the future of the Imperial House of Japan if I do not allow the Emperor to bed other women? I had put much hope in you, Ryuka, to give my husband a warrior-child or two…"

Chuckling, Ryuka answered, "If one day when I do get pregnant with an Imperial child, he or she would never be acknowledged." Ryuka had been born of a famous samurai clan, but she was a commoner nonetheless. "And if that day comes, my Shishou…" She stopped short of mentioning Katsumoto's name, knowing what troubles he had stirred in their country.

"He would want nothing more than for you to bear him a grandchild," the Empress interjected, once again reestablishing the fact that Ryuka could speak freely whenever she was with the Empress as well. "Even a fool could see that he loves you like a daughter, Ryuka."

"I do not know when I can see him again," she told the Empress. As it was, she was receiving direct orders from the Emperor, and it would not do if she was seen to be in the company of the man that threatened to plunge Japan into a state of civil war once again.

"Hopefully, as soon as he comes to his senses," the Empress sighed. "Heika misses his teacher as well. He was not at all at his manor in Tokyo?"

Ryuka shook her head. She had set out for Katsumoto's manor in thought to surprise him, but also in childish hope that the ugly rumors that she had heard en route back to Japan were false. Her sapphire eyes were downcast for a moment, and then she looked towards the mountain. "He was not there," she told the Empress. "I know not where he is."

The Empress then set a hand on her shoulder. "Have patience, you'll see him again before you know it."

Ryuka just hoped that the Empress was right, and she hoped that the day came soon.

* * *

HAN: I'm back! Thanks to all who reviewed!


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